BU will not renew Scholl’s contract after 5-25 season

Binghamton University will not renew the contract of Nicole Scholl, the head coach of its women’s basketball team.

Scholl, whose Bearcats lost to Albany in the America East quarterfinals Saturday, led Binghamton to five wins this season and a 68-115 record in her six years as head coach.

“I want to personally thank Binghamton University for giving me the opportunity to serve as it’s women’s basketball coach,” Scholl said via text message. “Thank you also to the players, coaches, administrators and support staff that I have had the pleasure to work with for the past 15 years, as well as the Bearcat fans and the Binghamton community.”

Athletics Director Patrick Elliott praised Scholl for her hard work throughout the years.

“These situations are always difficult, especially when you are dealing with good people,” Elliott said. “Nicole Scholl is a class act. She is a quality individual, someone who has given it her heart and soul for a long time. It certainly is never easy to come to a decision like this. However, I felt that to move the program forward, it was time (for a change).”

Scholl had a successful start to her tenure with the Bearcats, winning seven or more America East games in each of her first three seasons, including a program-record 19 wins during the 2010-11 campaign. However, Scholl never managed to lead the team past the semifinal round of the America East tournament.

Over the last three seasons, the program has declined significantly. BU has seen its win total drop each year and has been eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament in each of those seasons. 2013-14 was the worst of Scholl’s tenure. The Bearcats finished with a 5-25 record, won only two league games and lost 14 of their last 15 contests, a stretch that saw BU struggle through a 12-game skid.

“I made my final decision [Sunday] night,” Elliott said. “It was a decision that, looking at a lot of the different metrics of where the program is and where we would like it to be, and looking at the trend over the last couple of years, we were looking towards improvement, and I felt that new leadership was needed at this time to get where we wanted to be.”

The Bearcats will now launch a national search for their next head coach. Elliott expects the process to take at least one month. There are no candidates for the position at this time.

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